EECE 301

Signals & Systems

Prof. Mark Fowler
Note Set #3
What are Discrete-Time Signals???

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1.2 Discrete-Time (D-T) Signals

Recall from earlier that a common scenario in todays
electronic systems is to do most of the processing of a signal
using a computer.
A computer cant directly process a C-T signal but instead
needs a stream of numbers which is a D-T signal.
Sensor

Physical Electrical
C-T
C-T
Signal
Signal

Analog
Electronics
Electrical
C-T
Electrical
System
C-T
Signal

DSP
Computer

ADC

Electrical
D-T
Signal

Electrical
D-T
System

Electrical
D-T
Signal
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What is a discrete-time (D-T) signal?

A discrete time signal is a sequence of numbers indexed by integers
Example:

x[n]

n = , - 3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3,

Brackets indicate discrete-time signal.

Recall we used parentheses to
indicate a C-T signal.

A stem plot emphasizes that the

signal does not exist
in-between integer n values
x[n]
n

Remember: for our point of view,

D-T signals are needed to allow us
to process signals (i.e. information)
using D-T systems rather than only
Continuous-Time systems

Sometimes we violate this

and plot with line segments
connecting the dots.
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D-T systems allow us to process information in much more amazing

ways than C-T systems!
Values that are sampled
every T seconds
T 2T 3T

Sensor
x(t)

C-T system
(RLC, etc.)

y(t)

sampling is
how we typically
get D-T signals

Analog to
y[n]
D-T system
Digital Converter
(computer)
(ADC)

1 2

z[n]

3 4 5

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Mathematical Expression for Sampling:

The D-T signal y[n] is related to the C-T signal y(t) by:

y[n ] y (t ) |t nT y ( nT )

T = time spacing between samples (seconds) T is sampling interval

1/T = sampling rate (Fs) in samples/second

Fs is sampling rate

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Ex: CD audio is sampled at 44,100 samples per second

T = 1/44,100 22.68 sec

Major Question: How fast should we sample a specific signal?

(We cant answer that until we cover Fourier Transforms!!)
Hint: You may know that humans cant hear frequencies above
approximately 20kHz. Therefore, audio signals typically are
limited to have no frequencies above 20kHz. Note that CD
audio uses a sampling rate that is slightly more than twice this
highest frequency!!

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Digital Signals
-A practical ADC not only gives a D-T signal but also one that is
Dont confuse digital
Can take values only
digital
from a finite set

with logic signals!!!

-An ADC represents each sample y[n] using a finite number of bits
(typically 8 to 16 bits/sample)
-ADCs have a min/max input voltage
-If the ADC uses B bits per sample and V = max = - min volts
B
2
Then there are
levels or values that are spaced

2V
( B 1)

V
2
volts apart
2B

This quantization of values causes degradation in the

quality of the representation of y[n]
For this course we will ignore the quantization!
Our D-T signals can take on any value!

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Some Common D-T Signals

Much of what we learned about C-T signals carries over to D-T signals
The D-T Unit Step is defined in an obviously similar way that the
C-T Unit Step was defined. The D-T unit step is just a sampled
version of the C-T unit step
The same holds true for the D-T Unit Ramp.

However there are a Few Exceptions

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Unit Pulse: [n]

D-T Impulse or D-T Delta

[n]

1, n 0
[ n]
0, n 0

Note: [n] is not a sampled version of (t)

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Sifting Property for D-T Delta Function

Note: [n] works inside summations the same way

(t) works inside integrals

[n ] 1

Compare

x[n] [n n ] x[n ]

Compare

(t )dt 1

x(t ) (t t0 )dt x(t0 )

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D-T Rectangular Pulse

Often in practice we need to use pulses to model real-world signals
One definition of DT version of this is as follows.
Let q be an integer, then a centered pulse of 2q+1 samples is
1, n q, , 1, 0,1,, q
pq [ n ]
0, otherwise
q specifies pulse
+/- extent

pq[n]
1

-2 -1

0 1

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D-T Sinusoids
x[n] A cos(n )
Use upper case omega for
frequency of D-T sinusoids
What is the unit for ?

Anything inside a sine, cosine, or tangent

must be in radians NOT in degrees!!

n + must be in radians n in radians

is how many radians jump for each sample

is in radians/sample

Other than the above difference D-T sinusoids are pretty

much like C-T sinusoids.
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